Starting Over
by KaSaVa
Summary: Okay, this is a reposting of 'UnTitled'. TOTALLY new story line, same characters. And a few new ones! I think it's alot better than the old story. So please, Read & Review. Flamers welcome, as long as it is Constructive.CHAPTER 5 UP
1. Chapter 1

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Starting Over disc. - if you recognize it, I don't own it

Chapter 1 - 

Anna sat curled up in the alcove below her large livingroom window, watching the snow flakes fall softly to the ground. Today was going by very slowly, and it was very boring. Although there was one good thing that awaited her. Ricky, her old best friend and neighbour would be returning today. Apparently, from what his sister Kalie told her, he had gotten arrested for setting something on fire, and was sentenced to just over a year and a half at some detention center in Texas. She glanced at her baby pink watch, it was 4:46. Ricky was supposed to be arriving home at 5:00. Anna anxiously watched the snowflakes fall to the ground until her older sister, Brianna, came down stairs.

"'Bella, he isn't going to come home any faster. There might have been a delay at the airport, or traffic might be backed-up downtown. These things happen, beb. I'm sure he will come over and see you as soon as he can." Brianna saidusing her full name, AnnaBella as she took a seat at the end of the alcove's cushy bench.

Anna sighed and rolled her head around a couple times. "I know, I know. It's just that, I haven't seen him in so long? What if he doesn't remember me, or what if he doesn't want to see me?" she became a tad frantic.

"Don't worry, sweetie, I'm sure he will. Now what do you want at McDonalds? I'm going to head over to the drive thru and pick us up dinner since mom and dad are out of town for a while."

"Garden Salad with Feta Cheese and Italian dressing, please. . ." Anna responded distractedly as she continued to watch the snow.

Brianna smiled. "Alright 'Bella. See you soon."

"Drive carefully." Anna said softly as her sister disappeared out into the now snowy blizzard.

After watching the green van disappear down the street Anna allowed her head to fall back against the wall. It had been almost 2 years, what will he be like now? What will h- Anna began to think some more about Ricky until her brother, Jason, bounded down the stairs.

"Anna! Elizabeth(an - their 6 week old baby sister) is crying again. . .but this time I can smell the reason. And I REFUSE to change her diaper...it's...it's just...ew." Jason scrunched up his nose and stuck out his tongue. For 19 he could be insanely immature.

"Where is she?" Anna asked, slowly getting up off the bench.

"On Mum and Dad's bed." Jason replied, shrugging his shoulders and taking Anna's seat.

"Way to go genius, if she's on the floor I'm blaming YOU and only YOU." Anna turned around and stomped up the stairs and down the hall to her parents' bedroom. Little baby Elizabeth lay on the bed, all curled up and sucking on one of her feet as she rolled back and forth. When Elizabeth saw Anna she cooed and laughed loudly as she flung her little chubby arms up in the air. "Ahbagasooshatboo!" she gurgled.

Anna smiled and blabbered in baby talk as she made her way across the room and picked her up. "Hey wizzie, how's mwy fwavowite wittle swister? Who's mwy fwavorite?" she cooed at the tiny baby. Elizabeth just flapped her arms and legs violently. "Aww honey! Anna's here, Anna's here." Anna picked the baby up, sat down, and began to bounce the baby up and down. Elizabeth loved it when Anna, Jason, or Brianna did that. Then Anna remembered why Jason had sent her up here. Anna walked over to the changing table and proceeded to change the stinky diaper.

"Poo-tink you stink!" she laughed at the baby, using a line she remembered her parents saying to her when she needed a bath or something when she was younger. After she finished Anna doused the baby's tiny bum in Baby Powder and slapped on a new diaper. "There! Good as new!" she squealed, blowing rasberries. Elizabeth giggled loudly and Anna picked her up and set her down in a playpen that was randomly in the corner. "I'll be right back, baby!" And with that she bounced down the hall to Elizabeth's tiny nursery and yanked a simple white onesie and a pair of light purple infant sweatpants out of the drawer and ran back to her parents room. After she finished re-dressing her sister Anna sat with Elizabeth on the floor and red one of her favorite books until she heard Jason fall off the bench downstairs.

"Jase? You okay?" Anna called, picking up the baby and walking to the top of the stairs.

"Yeah, yeah, Ricky just scared the bejesus outta me!" He laughed.

"Ricky?" Anna screeched and Elizabeth started to cry. Anna bounced her up and down til she was quietly cooeing again.

"Yeah, he just came up to the window and I didn't notice til I looked up from the magazine I was reading."

"Well are you going to let him in?"

"Uhm, yeah, he's coming around the back right now."

"Omigosh." Anna rushed down the stairs, thrusted Elizabeth at Jason, and dashed up to her own bedroom.

After a few minutes of trying to decide what to wear she heard the back door being thrown open and Ricky's voice ring out. "Jason?"

Jason went out and greeted them, Elizabeth in hand. "Hey, man. How you doin'?"

"Good, good," he began, the noticed the tiny baby curled up in Jason's arms. "You've been busy?" he joked, pointing at Elizabeth.

"Jesus christ, no way. This is my sister. Mum had her 6 weeks ago. She's a good baby, thank fucking god."

At hearing her brother swear with the baby around Anna shouted. "Jason! WATCH YOUR LANGUAGE. MOTHER OF GOD!" she exclaimed, then quickly covered her mouth.

"ANNA! HURRY UP AND GET DOWN HERE!" Jason yelled as he handed the baby over to Ricky and walked to the bottom of the stairs.

"I AM TRYING TO HURRY, JASE, BUT I HAVE LIZZIE'S POO AND BABY POWDER AND THAT NASTY GREEN BABY FOOD ALL OVER ME! I'M CHANGING! I'LL BE DOWN IN 5 MINUTES!" Anna hollered, running a hand through her dishwater brown hair. Quickly she grabbed a pair of Seven Jeans and a long sleeved buttercup yellow sweater that fit her like a glove and pulled them on. After brushing her hair and pulling it into two low braids she applied lipgloss and mascara and washed her face before slowly making her way to the TV room in the basement. Jason saw her first because there was a wall separating the stairwell from the TV room and he was sitting in the chair that was against the wall with Elizabeth, and Ricky was on the other side. Anna hadn't seen him yet, but already her heart was thumping underneath her shirt.

"Took you that long to come up with that?" he chuckled. Anna smirked and threw a pillow at him that was lying by the entrance.

"Jase, please shut it." she quickly and briskly walked over and took Elizabeth from him before going over to the laz-y-boy in the corner. Ever so timidly she raised her gaze from her sister's bald head to Ricky, who was staring at her.

"Hey." he murmered with a smile.

"Hey, how's it going." Anna asked, her voice shakey.

"Not to bad. What about you." he asked.

Anna surveyed his appearance. The crazy hair she used to love to brush and style was now gone. It was replaced by a much shorter shaggy hair cut, that was tucked up under a black wool knitted skull-cap. The only way she knew it was shaggy is because pieces of it stuck out from underneath the hat. It was so cute.

"N- n- nothing." she said shakily.

"Oh, Anna, it's just Ricky. Why are you so nervous?" Jason loudly interuppted her.

Anna gave him the death glare. "Jason. Leave me alone."

Ricky chuckled. "Yeah, Jase, give her a break."

Anna beamed over at him. "Thanks." she smiled sweetly.

Ricky winked at her and was about to say something, until Anna wrinkled her nose. Uh-oh. Elizabeth had terrible timing. Anna raised the baby until she was facing her. "I JUST changed you half an hour ago." she murmered quietly.

"What's wrong, Anna?" Jason asked. Like he cared.

"I think Lizzie had another accident." Anna cooed in a baby voice. Ricky smiled when he heard this. It was cute hearing Anna be so kind and gentle with the little baby, even if lizzie had just done something totally nasty.

Jason laughed. "What are you laughing at Jase, it's YOUR turn."

Jason shook his head at Anna. "I don't think so, babe. I don't DO diapers."

Anna squinted real hard at her brother. "Jason, you are STUPID." she put major emphasis on stupid. " I don't want to do this again, you think I like it anymore than you do?"

Ricky got up out of the chair. "Here, I'll help you." he took baby Elizabeth from Anna and followed her up the stairs to her parents' bedroom where the changing table was.

Anna set out the diaper, wipes, and baby powder. "Thanks. I mean, I don't really mind doing this 'cause I love Elizabeth, but I mean, it's GROSS." she made a face, scrunching her tiny nose.

"Oh, it's no problem. I used to have to change Kalie ALLLL the time. I got used to it. Wipes."

Immeadiately Anna thrusted the baby wipes at him. They smelled like lilac. How ironic.

"So, where DID you go these past 2 years?" Anna asked as she inched closer to him.

"Camp." he replied simply.

"Oh. Okay. Was it fun?" she asked.

Ricky looked at her then burst out laughing. "Anna, baby girl that's the LAST thing I'd call it, but I DID meet some pretty cool friends there."

"Well that's good. So have you been home yet today?"

"Well, yeah, I had to drop my backpack off and go visit Mum and Kalie and Grandpa. Dad wasn't home though." Ricky shrugged his slightly muscled shoulders. Anna's ear-to-ear grin faded.

"Ricky. . " she began.

"Yeah? Powder." Anna handed him the powder.

"Uh, I don't really know how to say this. . I thought they would've told you. . ." she trailed off.

"Go on? Diaper." Anna thrusted a diaper at him.

"He left. He left about 6 months after you were gone."

"What do you mean, GONE?" Ricky asked, picking Elizabeth up off the changing table.

"You're parents are...uh...divorced. I'm so sorry." Anna's eyes got teary as she watched Ricky's smile drop.

"It's my fault." he said simply. "My fault. I messed up."

"No, Ricky, No. It wasn't your fault. Your father. . .he. . he cheated on your mum. And then he threw Kalie down the stairs. I know this because after it happened your mum and Kalie came and stayed with us for a few days until they could take him to court." Tears began to seep out the corner of Anna's eyes. Ricky's eyes widened.

"I...I...I...I don't know what to...say." he said, stunned.

"I'm really really realllllllyyy sorry. I thought you would've found out, Ricky, really I did. I would've wrote you even, but no one gave me the right mailing information. I'm so sorry." Anna laid Elizabeth down in her little cradle for a nap and sat beside him. Instantly she felt arms around her.

"It's not your fault. I just thought dad was so much cooler than that. He used to be my like, HERO, Anna. I. . .this. . .it's. . .it's hard to comprehend a hero doing something so stupid." Anna hugged him back.

"I know, I know." she whispered.

"What are you guys DOING?" Jason asked as he came into the room. "Whoa, whoa, WHOA. I'm sorry. . ." he stuttered as he saw them hugging.

Anna raised her teary eyes to Jason's form in the doorway. "Jase, it's okay. I told him."

Jason raised an eyebrow. "Told him what?"

Anna lifted her whole head and her jaw dropped. "Take a guess." she challenged. She and Ricky both turned to face him.

It took Jason a minute to understand. "Oooooh...you told him THAT. . .Ricky, Man I'm so sorry your father turned out to be such a d-"

"Jason. . ." Anna warned.

"It's alright, Anna." Ricky began, standing up. "He's right. Dad's a dick."

"W-w-where are you going?" she spluttered.

"Home. Gotta go see home Mum and Kalie are doing, they didn't really say much when I got home. They just cried and cried and hugged me. . .they'd still be squeezing me if I didn't say I had to go see Anna." he chuckled.

"Oh...okay...well why don't you come back later tonight, Jason, Brianna, Kateia Jason's girlfriend, and I rented '13 Going On 30'."

Ricky wrinkled his nose. "Isn't that a chick-flick."

Jason coughed loudly and whispered something in Ricky's ears. Ricky looked confused then a look of comprehension came across his face. "Ooh..Jason..that's..that's..I don't know. But sure, Anna, I'll come. What time?" he asked.

"7:00." she smiled.

"Alright, see you at 7:00." Ricky hugged both of them before walking out the front door and down the steps and down the sidewalk to his house next door.


	2. Chapter 2

**  
Starting Over - Chapter 2  
Disc - Anything you recoznize, I don't own. I only own the OC's not the show, for you n00bs...Original Characters**

**a/n - I added the comment about the 'OC'S' because my friend got accused by some moron of saying she owned the show...what a bunch of...lies. So there u go. lol.**

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Anna ran upstairs after Ricky left and flopped down on her bed, burying her face in the pile of big cushy pillows. She lay there in a trance of happiness, just staring at her ceiling, for about 10 minutes before her day dreams were so rudely interrupted. Her sister and parents were home. 'Oh great', she thought, rolling off her bed and picking up Elizabeth from the bouncy baby chair thingy before heading downstairs.

"Hey, Brie. Where's dinner?" was the first thing she asked.

Brianna chuckled and took Elizabeth with one hand. "Good to see you too, sweetie. Here." she passes Anna the salad and turned back down the hall to help her parents with the groceries.

Anna took a seat at the large cherry-wood table and began to pick at her salad. Jason came downstairs and Anna threw his burger at him. He too took a seat and began to eat his supper. All of a sudden someone covered Anna's eyes.

"Annabella!" her mother cooed, giving her a cold kiss on the cheek.

Anna grimaced. "Hello, mother." she said through a mouthful of salad.

"How's my baby girl? Have you seen Ricky yet, dear?" Anna glared at her.

"Yes, mum. Is it okay if he comes over and watches the movie with Jase, Bri, and I tonight?"

" 'Course it's okay, darling!"

Anna sighed a sigh of relief. "Good, 'cause I already invited him."

Anna's mother gave her a look and continued to put a box of baby food in the cupboard. "I should have known." she giggled.

Just then Anna's father came in from the garage. "Anna-bo-banna!" he cried, opening his arms for a hug.

"Dad!" she exclaimed, hurtling herself at him. Her dad was her favorite parent. He wasn't nearly as absent-minded (read: Ditzy, stupid, embarassing) as her mother. "How was the trip to Nan's!" she asked, releasing him.

"Oh, it was fine. Until your great-aunt Mable showed up. I swear, that women could put a damper on ANYTHING." he huffed, shoving a bag of grapes and a few stalks of celery into a crisper bin in the large white fridge.

Anna laughed. "Yeah, I know what you mean."

"Excuuuuussseezzz-moi, but my aunt is a perfectly nice, refined lady!" Anna's mum interrupted.

Jason leaned down to Anna's ear and whispered. "Amoung a family of APES, maybe." this sent Anna into a howling fit of laughter. She was still laughing when the doorbell rang. When they heard the clear sound of a church bell ring through out the house, Anna ran down the front-hall, into the foyer, and threw open the door.

A look of disappointment crept across her heart-shaped face when she saw who it was. "Oh. Hey Mari," she said dully. "Jase is in the kitchen, come with me."

Mari was Jason's girlfriend of a year and a half. She glanced at Anna. "Well, sweetie, it's nice to see you too!" she laughed, shaking snow out of her long silky black hair and blinking her sea-green/blue eyes a few times. She took off her Ugg boots and Chanel coat Mari was from a very rich family, her dad was an Oil heir and her mom was a lawyer and followed Anna to the kitchen.

Anna just blinked as she and Jason practically destroyed each other's faces. "Ew." she grimaced quietly.

Jason heard this and let go or Mari before turning to face Anna. "Well, if you had YOUR way you'd be doing this with Ricky."

Anna's face turned as red as Brianna's crimson cheek stain she bought for $30.00 at the specialty store on Main Street last week. "Shut up." she murmured, turning to go back up to her bed room. She yanked her computer chair rolly stool thingy out from under the desk and plunked herself down as she turned on her laptop. Anna logged onto her contact's list and went directly to the 'Online' category. YES! He was on!

Convo started; 6:35 pm.

Anna says ; Hey!

Ricky says ; Hey what's goin' on?

Anna says ; Nm. ..u still comin ovr 4 tha movie 2nite?

Ricky says ; Uh..yep. I am

Anna says ; Cool . .

Ricky says ; So it's still that chick-flik, huh?

Anna says ; Yep, unfortunately. Bri won't budge. I was pushin' 4 that new movie. .uh. . War Of The Worlds. It looks intense.

Ricky says ; Which one? The re-make, you mean? Right?

Anna says ; Yah

Ricky says ; Okay...lol

Anna says ; Do you wanna come over now?

Ricky says ; Uh. .sure:)

Anna says ; Cool, cya in a minute

Ricky says ; Yup. C ya.

Anna has logged off - 6:43 pm

Ricky has logged off - 6:44 pm

- - - -

After their conversation Anna flew over to her closet and threw it open once more. She pulled out a hot pink baby tee and a pair of jeans. She yanked them on, and went into the washroom. Anna stood infront of the sink and brushed her brown hair til it shone, and brushed her teeth. She even re-applied her make-up. She had plenty of time. Ricky wasn't there yet. Just to be safe, Anna glanced at the watch on her wrist. Wow. 6:48 . . .that was fast. She had never gotten ready that fast in her entire life. Oh well. Whatever. 

A loud creak was heard at the bottom of the stairs and Brianna's voice floated up and under the bathroom door. "Anna, sweetie, Ricky is coming up the path!" she called, a hint of teasing in her voice. Anna's pale cheeks once again turned crimson at the mention of his name.

"Thank you Bri!" she yelled back, a hint of annoyance in hers. Quickly she gave herself the once-over. Make-up. Check. Nice hair. Check. Cute outfit. Check. But she couldn't bring herself to move. Anna was frozen there. Only the cry of Elizabeth brought her out of her trance. Robotically, she opened the door and walked to her parents' room, picked the baby up out of the playpen, and slowly walked downstairs. Holding 'Liz always calmed her down.

As she entered the brightly lit kitchen Anna saw her dad bent over the stove, playing with the buttons on it. "Hey, daddy." she called meekly.

Her father stood up and turned to face Anna. "Hey, 'bella. Why aren't you downstairs yet? Your friend is here." he asked.

Anna paused then sighed. "I know, dad. I know. Where's mum? I think Elizabeth needs to be fed." she ran her hand lightly over the peach-fuzz growing on her sister's head.

"Downstairs, I do believe, dear. 'Schooling' Jason and Brianna at pool." he said distractedly.

Anna grimaced at the sound of her father trying to sound like a teenager. "Erm...okay. I'll go down now."

Her father smiled knowingly at her. Anna shuddered and pulled open the basement door, and walking down the creaky steps to the game room. The gameroom was a room off another room in their rather large basement, that could've been an apartment all by itself. Recently, the floors in the basement had been re-done into this slippery, smooth, cool imitation hard-wood flooring. Key-word ; Slippery. Halfway to the door Anna slipped, sending her and Elizabeth right to the floor. Luckily the baby was okay, giggling loudly as she landed on a nearby bean bag chair, obviously having no clue what was going on. Anna made a mental note to check the baby-food labels. Then, the realization of pain hit her.

"OWWWWW!" she screeched, sitting up and rubbing her aching knees and shoulder. Right away the door flung open and her mother, Jason, Mari, Ricky, and Brianna's faces all appeared above her.

"Oh, my baby. My baby girl are you okay!" Anna's mum asked, cradling Anna in her arms as she knelt down.

Anna made a face and pushed her off. "Yeah, yeah I'm okay." she groaned, trying to get up. Jason and Ricky each took one of her hands and pulled her up fully. She gave them a grateful look before turning to Brianna.

Brianna noticed the weird look on Anna's face, yet she understood completely. She smiled at her younger sister. "So, Annabella, would you care to tell mummy dearest how to play pool?"

Anna's mouth fell open. "What the hell Bri, you know I don't play pool. . " she said slowly.

Brianna was about to say something else when Jason so rudely interrupted her. "Why don't we just get watching this horror movie over with!" he said, wrapping an arm around Mari's tiny waist. She giggled. Anna rolled her eyes.

"It's a chick-flick, Jase." Mari said slowly, as if explaining to a three year old that you don't put glue in your mouth, but on paper.

Jason stared at her blankly. "I know." Mari giggled, yet again, before taking her place on the couch. Jason soon sat beside her. Anna sat beside Jason, Ricky sat beside Anna, and Brianna sat on the other side of Ricky. Once they were comfortable, Anna's mum put the movie in the DVD player and handed Brianna the clicker.

"Woo! I luuuuurrrrrrvvvv this movie!" Brianna chirped excitedly. Anna nodded in agreement, as did Mari. Ricky and Jason just coughed and looked uncomfortable.

About 25 minutes into the movie, Anna had to go the bathroom. She wedged herself out of the spot between Jason and Ricky and got up and went into the washroom, which was in the next room. She stood there, staring in the mirror for 5 minutes, before going back out there. When she opened the door Jason had been whispering something to Ricky, but when he saw Anna he looked like a dear-in-headlights. She raised an eyebrow before walking back around the couch and wedging herself back down.

"Hey." she whispered to Ricky.

"Hey , Anna." he whispered back.

Ever so slightly Jason was nudging Anna over towards Ricky. Soon, there was barely any room and her neck was getting sore. So, very casually, she dropped her head the Ricky's shoulde. She waited a few seconds then looked up, he was still staring at the screen, not blinking. 'Is that good or bad!' Anna wondered. She glanced over at Jason, he looked at her and winked. A smile spread across Anna's face before she turned back to the movie. At first she thought everything was going to be so messed up, nothing would normal with Ricky.

**Oh, it's going to be better than normal. Just wait for it.**

a/n - wOOt! 2 Chappies in a day!

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	3. Chapter 3

**  
Starting Over  
  
a/n - Okay, I noticed a big mistake in a paragraph in Chapter 2..so here is it, corrected.**

Mari was Jason's girlfriend of a year and a half. She glanced at Anna. "Well, sweetie, it's nice to see you too!" she laughed, shaking snow out of her long silky black hair and blinking her sea-green/blue eyes a few times. She took off her Ugg boots and Chanel coat** (Mari was from a very rich family, her dad was an Oil heir and her mom was a lawyer) **and followed Anna to the kitchen.

There, the bold is the corrected mistake. I had used those half-square thingy's for the brackets, and it didn't show up. 

**Disclaimer - Anything you recoznize, I don't own. Unless they r the OC'S (original characters. Read: made by me)  
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When the movie had finished and the credits started to roll, they all groaned. "Greaaaat! I was comfortable, now I have to move!" Jason complained loudly. Anna scoffed and threw a pillow at him.

"Don't be so lazy, Jase!" she scolded, shifting into an up-right position. Ricky smiled at her and moved around a bit so she could get up. Anna smiled back, then looked at Brianna, who was grinning like an idiot.

"Anna and Ric-" she began.

Anna glared at her. "Shut. Up. Now." she ordered through clenched teeth. Brianna looked slightly taken-aback.

"Fine." she grumbled, slowly getting up off the couch. Soon, once they were all done the stretching and complaining, everyone stood in the middle of the room, waiting as Brianna retrieved the movie out of the DVD player.

"Well, since we're not going to watch THAT again, we might as well take it back now." Jason said with a yawn.

Everyone nodded in agreement. "Okay, good idea," Brianna said. "Are you all going to come? Maybe we could go out to eat after or something."

"Yeah, sure." was the reply.

"Okay then, let's go!" The group trudged up the creaky stairs, passing Anna's mother and father trying to feed Elizabeth smooshed peas, on their way to the door.

They all bundled up in various coats and scarfs and boots before braving the cold, bitter winds outside. "Oh sweet jesus!" Anna exclaimed as she opened the heavy front door.

"This isn't right, I'm not used to this! At camp it was 100 degrees plus EVERY DAY!" Ricky complained.

Anna smirked at him. "Well, Ricky, it's only like this here in the winter. Summer gets pretty deadly."

"I hope so." he laughed, clambouring into the van's backseat. Anna followed.

Jason and Mari climbed into the 2 middle seats, and Brianna grudgingly got in front. "I'm always alone, always." she mumbled.

"Well, maybe if you called Colin back he'd be here to keep you company." Jason quipped.

Brianna whipped around in her seat and stared at Jason. "Colin called? WHEN!"

Jason gave a nervous laugh. "Oh..heh-heh..this afternoon. I guess I forgot to mention it."

"Fuck you." Brianna hissed, grabbing Jason's cellphone out of his coat pocket and dialing Colin's number.

After sitting in the driveway for 5 minutes listening to her sister talk on the phone like an over-caffeinated cheerleader bitch, she got bored. "Ricky, do you want to WALK to the store? We'd get there faster."

Ricky shrugged. "Sure." Brianna tossed the movie to the back of the van. Quickly, Anna caught it and threw open the van's side door. The two climbed out and began to walk in the direction of the store.

"Well, this is fun." Anna said sarcastically as she pulled up the hood of her baby pink jacket with the beige-fur trimmed hood. It was intensely cold out, and her tiny hands were almost pure red.

Ricky chuckled. "Don't sound so bitter, Anna."

She playfully punched him in the arm. "Shut-up," she laughed. "It's freakin freezing out here! And I left my gloves in the van!"

"Well that sucks." Ricky glanced around.

"Yep." Anna murmured, shoving the video inside a large pocket on the inside of her jacket. It would suck if it froze.

Ricky shifted his scarf around so it covered his neck, and he yanked his black-wool skull cap down farther over his red-tinged ears. "Are you really that cold?" he asked, looking down at Anna.

She gazed up at him through the fur that trimmed her baby-pink hood. "Yep." she said, holding up her red-from-the-cold hands so he could see. "Oh." he said, glancing around uncomfortably.

Then, out of nowhere, he reached down and grabbed one of Anna's hands, keeping his gaze straight ahead. She blinked up at him, but didn't say anything. She smiled and kept walking. For once Anna kept quiet, just liking the way his warm hand covered (almost completely) her tiny, cold one. When they reached the big video rental store Anna led Ricky up to the 'return' slot on the outside wall, and with her free hand, retrieved the DVD from her pocket and pushed it into the slot. There. Done.

"Hey, Anna, do you wanna go get a hot chocolate or something?" Ricky asked quietly.

Anna thought for about half a milisecond. "Okay. Sure, that's cool." she smiled.

Ricky smiled back and led her to the Starbucks across the parking lot from the video store. "Here we are." he said, opening the door for her. Anna thought she was going to pee her pants she was so happy.

They both walked up to the counter. "What do you want?" Ricky asked.

Anna licked her upper lip. "Hmm...just a hot chocolate might be nice."

"Cool, okay. And I'll have...a normal hot chocolate too."

The waitress came up and smiled at them. "Hello, what can I get you?" she asked.

"Two tall hot chocolates." Ricky said politely.

Anna reached into her pocket and pulled out the money for hers and pushed it into Ricky's palm. "Here." she whispered. He looked confused.

"What's this for?" he asked.

"My hot chocolate." she said.

Ricky laughed. "Um, I'm buying."

Anna stood still for a second. "Why?"

"Because I asked you. . " Ricky chuckled. He had a nice laugh.

When their hot chocolates came, piled high with whipped-cream and chocolate sprinkles, they went over to one of the plush couches in the corner of the room.

"This is nice." Anna said, taking a sip of the steaming beverage in her hands.

Ricky raised an eyebrow. "What is?" he asked.

Anna just shrugged. "This." she saud with a smile, her lipgloss now all over the cardboard cup.

"Oh. Yeah, yeah it is." Ricky smiled, taking a sip of hot chocolate, which left him with a moustache of whipped cream. Anna looked up from the table and began to giggle hystericall when she saw Ricky's face.

"What! What's so funny?" He demanded in a whiney voice. Anna looked at him and licked her upper lip. He gave her a weird look.

"Ricky, you...you...you have whipped cream all over your upper lip." she stuttered.

"Oh." he licked it off, making Anna giggle again. 'What's WRONG with me!' she mused quietly.

The pair finished their hot chocolates quickly and threw the empty cups in a garbage can before braving the bitter wind once more. Anna yanked her fur-trimmed hood over her head quickly this time, to avoid having frost-bitten ears. Ricky did the same with his cap, pulling it down to cover both his ears. They walked along, Ricky holding Anna's hand again, talking about everything from baby Elizabeth to Ricky's time at Camp.

"Yeah, aside from the digging it was okay. I mean, I made some pretty great friends there." he explained.

"I bet you miss them lots." Anna said quietly.

"Yeah, I mean, of course. They are some of my best friends. I wouldn't have stayed sane there without them."

"I know what you mean." Anna replied softly.

"You went to a detention center for over a year and missed your best friends from home everyday?" he joked.

"No. No that's not it." she said.

"Then what is it?" he asked, slowing down a bit.

"When you went away." she said.

"What do you mean?" he asked, stopping and facing her, still holding her hand.

"Well, when you went away, I cried. Alot. You were my best friend, Ricky. Then you were gone. You left without saying goodbye. I got picked on at school alot when you were gone, too. People would always say stuff like 'Oh, whatcha gonna do, Anna? Your bodyguard is gone!' and I'd say 'He wasn't my bodyguard, he's my best friend.' I almost went insane because of it. Everyday for a long time I'd come home and stare out the window for a while, waiting to see if you showed up. Buy you never did, so finally I stopped. Then, one day, about a week ago Kalie came over. She told me you were coming home today. I don't think I had ever heard better news in my entire life." by the time Anna was done telling Ricky this she was near tears. He gave her a big hug and didn't let her go. They stood there, hugging like that, for a while before the cold finally got to Ricky.

"I hate to break this up, really, I do, but can we keep walking? It's freezing!" Ricky exclaimed.

Anna nodded and wiped her eyes with a frozen finger. "Yeah, let's go. They'll be wondering where we are."

They continued down the long, long road to Anna's house. Once the house was in view she saw Brianna and Jason standing in the front yard. "What are they doing! Are they crazy?" Ricky asked, half shocked.

"Yes, they are. C'mon." Anna dragged Ricky towards her siblings. When the two were close to Jason and Brianna they noticed a worried look on Jason's face, as well as Bri's.

"Hey guys! What's wrong!" Anna asked, her voice full of concern.

"It's Elizabeth. Something's wrong with her. The doctor's are even here, they didn't want her to be outside." Brianna sniffed. Anna dropped Ricky's hand and began to cry. "What, what, what, . . where is mum!" she demanded.

Jason gave his sister a solemn hug. "She's inside, Ann, but I don't think you want to go in there. Maybe it's best if you stay at Ricky's house tonight." Anna looked at Ricky. "It's okay with me, if my mum says yes."

"We already asked her, Ricky, she says it's okay." Brianna replied, wiping her tears. "What about pajamas, clothes!" Anna said in a depressed voice.

"We have your bag packed already, babe," Jason said as he handed her a duffle bag. "If situations change we'll be over to get you in the morning, okay?"

Anna nodded as Ricky put a comforting arm around her shoulder and led her towards his house. They reached the door and Ricky pulled out a key, after a few clicks the door opened and they stepped inside. Ricky took Anna's bag and set it down by the coat rack.

"Mum! Kalie! We're here!" he yelled up the stairs. Pretty soon they heard the pitter-patter of tiny foot-steps and seven year old Kalie appeard in the doorway.

"Anna!" she screeched, throwing herself at her neighbour.

Anna smiled back meekly. "Hey, Kal."

Ricky pulled his sister off of Anna. "Kalie, why don't you go find mum and tell her we're in the living room. Okay?" Kalie nodded seriously and headed off in the direction of the kitchen. They could hear her little voice scream for her mom, and the 'pitter-patter' of slightly bigger foot-steps. Then, the door swung open and Ricky's mum ran to greet them.

"Oooh hey kids!" she squealed, giving them both a gigantic hug. She pulled away from her son and turned to Anna with a serious look on her face.

"Hello there, dear. How are you?" she asked.

"I don't know yet." Anna sighed, thoughts drifting back to home. She wondered what was going on with little Elizabeth. "I'm sure the little one will be fine, sweetie. Why don't you two go up to Ricky's room and watch some TV while I make a snack?" she suggested.

Ricky nodded and Anna followed him up to his room. It was big, decorated in Reds and Blacks and Whites. Typical boys room, Anna thought. They each took a seat of his bed, and Ricky flicked the TV on.

"What would you like to watch, Anna?" he asked.

"Doesn't matter," she siged. "How about MTV or something?"

"Okay, cool." He changed the channel and they watched Bam Margera and his friends dick around for a while before Ricky's mum brought up a bowl of popcorn, a few cookies, and some water.

"Thank you." Anna said.

"Yeah, thanks mum!" Ricky replied through a mouthful of cookie.

"No problem, if you need anything else just gimme a holler! I'm right downstairs." she said before retreating back to the kitchen.

Anna allowed her head to flop back to the pillow. "Arrgh!" she groaned, shoving a handful of popcorn in her mouth.

"Anna, I'm sure 'Liz will be okay." Ricky told "I hope so," she said, letting her head fall on his shoulder as he grabbed her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "I hope so."

**a/n - I know it may be a little cheesy, but wtv. And btw, they aren't officially together yet. Probably nxt chappie or chappie 5. Anyways, don't start freakin out sayin how sad it is, Elizabeth will ultimately be fine. So, yeah...lol.**

READ AND REVIEW PLEASE! I'LL LOVE YOU FOREVER AND EVER AND EVER AND EVER! Thanks to my first reviewer

da baddest chic - Woo! Thanks for the awesome review!

a/n - Don't get all upset yet, people. I don't really know what should be wrong with Elizabeth.


	4. Chapter 4

**  
disclaimer : I only own the characters I've made up. You know who they are.**

a/n - I am SO sorry about all the typos I make! Even when I read the chappie's 2-3 times before posting, there are still typos. I'm so bad at it sometimes my friends call me the 'Typo Queen'. So there. I have a liable excuse..coughnotreallycough, but whatever. lol. So please excuse me.  
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The next morning Anna woke up, her body half-off Ricky's bed. She looked up, he was snoring softly, the slightest bit of drool escaping the corner of his red pouty lips. This made Anna giggle, so hard in fact, she fell off the bed completely and landed with a very loud 'THUMP' on the hardwood floors.

"Owwwww," Anna moaned, rubbing her head. Ricky heard her and bolted up-right, leaning over the egde of the bed.

"Anna, you okay?" he asked, his voice full of concern. Anna blinked and rubbed her head once more.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine," she nodded, looking at him. His crazy blonde hair had fallen in his reddening face.

"Okay, that's good," he breathed a sigh of relief, his face growing more red.

Anna laughed. "Ricky, sit up, all the blood is rushing to your head," she instructed. He sat up and used both hands to brush his hair away from his face. It stuck up in all directions, it was a hilarious sight.

"I knew there was a reason I felt funny." he murmured, shaking his head.

"Yeah, that'll do that to ya." Anna said, getting up off the floor and sitting on the corner of his bed. She looked out the picture-window, it had snown over night. Everything was sparkly white and coated in snows. The evergreen trees looked like green ice cream cones that had been dipped in white chocolate(this those chocolate-dipped cones Dairy Queen). It was really pretty. Ricky noticed her looking outside.

"OOOOH! Pretty!" he flew to the window and stared at the ground. Anna collapsed in laughter. 'It was so typical of him', Anna thought. She got up off the bed and went over to sit beside him in the alcove.

"So what are we going to do today?" she asked, shifting around 'til she was sitting, cross-legged, facing him. His gaze rose from the sparkly snow to Anna's face.

"I dunno, what do you wanna do? We're on christmas vacation for another week."

Anna thought for a minute. "Omigosh! I got it!"

"What?" Ricky asked.

Anna's excited grin disappeared for a minute, "Go see what's up with Elizabeth." the excited grin returned. "THEN GO SLEDDING!"

Ricky raised an eyebrow. Sledding? How old were they, 6? No. They were 15 & 16. He was about to protest, but then something about Anna's enthusiam stopped him. It was so hard to say no to her when she got all hyper and excited. "Yeah, sure," he grinned. "But I suggest you go get dressed so we can get an early start, okay?"

Anna nodded feverently. "Yes, yes of course," she grabbed a few articled of clothing and then went into Ricky's bathroom. Quickly, Anna dressed in her light-pink t-shirt from garage that could be stretched down over her bottom, and a pair of light jeans. She left her hair down and pulled on some socks. She pulled the t-shirt down so it covered half her butt, then knocked on the door. "Ricky? You ready?" she called.

"Yep, I am. Come on out now if you are done." he replied.

Anna threw open the door and walked out. Ricky had changed into a bright red medium-sized t-shirt (that was slightly too big for him), and a pair of baggy dark-rinse jeans, and some DC's. "So do you want to get going now? Or do you want to eat first?"

Anna put her hands on her hips. "Hmm...I don't think I could handle food right now. But if you want to you can eat. I'll wait for you."

"Okay, let's go downstairs." Ricky said.

"Yup. Let's go." Anna slung her duffle bag over her shoulder as they walked through the door and down the stairs into the brightly lit kitchen.

"Hey mum, what's for breakfast?" Ricky called as they walked in.

"Mum isn't here." Kalie, who was at the table, said flatly.

Ricky's eyes bulged. "What do you mean, NOT HERE!"

Kalie looked up at her brother and Anna with a bored expression on her face. "It's, like, 12:00. Mum goes to the gym every morning at like, 11:00. She was going to wake you guys up, but she was in too much of a hurry."

"...and she left you here alone!" he asked.

"No, I was just about to go wake you guys up." Kalie said with a yawn.

Ricky gave up and walked over to fridge, motioning for Anna to take a seat. "You sure you don't want anything, Ann?" he asked, turnnig around.

Anna nodded. "Yes, I'm sure. Thanks anyways." she smiled.

Kalie raised an eyebrow and let out a snort. Ricky shot her a look before turning back to the fridge. "Geez." Kalie muttered, slowly munching on her cereal.

Ricky returned to the table with a bowl of Cap'N Crunch and a glass of milk. He reached for the counter and grabbed a second glass. "Here, Anna, at least drink something to get you through the morning."

Reluctantly Anna took the glass and drank it down. "There," she said, wiping the milk moustache away that had formed on her upper lip."All done!"

"I'd swear you've had practice." Ricky chuckled, taking her glass and placing it back on the counter. Anna grinned.

"How'd ya know?" she asked.

Ricky shrugged."I guessed." 

The three of them sat there in silence for a few moments. When Ricky was about done his breakfast when the door clicked opened and his mum stepped inside. "Phew! That's a cold one!" she exclaimed, kicking off her boots. The three kids looked up from the table.

"Hey, mum," Ricky said as he got up and set his bowl in the sink. "Anna and I were just about to go out. I don't know when I'll be back, but I'll call if I need anything, okay?"

Anna rose from the table and stood beside him. "Yeah, okay." his mother replied. "Just don't be too late, dear." They both agreed before stepping into the foyer to get dressed to brave the cold winds. Anna pulled on her pink bomber jacket, boots, and a borrowed pair of Ricky's gloves. Ricky yanked on a heavy winter jacket, some gloves, and a pair of his father's old work boots. Once they were both ready Anna opened the door slowly. A bitter snow blizzard whipped their faces as they stepped outside.

"This sucks. I hate blizzards, but we still totally have to go sledding! It's my favorite." she beamed.

"Uh, okay, sure, but what will we use for sleds?" Ricky asked, taking Anna's duffle bag from her.

"Oh, don't worry about that. Jase, Bri, and I have tons of stuff we can use! We used to go sledding every day that there was snow on the ground when we were younger." Anna explained.

"Oh okay." Ricky shrugged as he opened the door to Anna's house and they stepped inside.

Once they had all their winter clothes off they walked down the hall to the kitchen, where they heard Anna's mother and father talking. "Mum! Dad! How's Elizabeth?" she asked.

Anna's father stepped forward. "Anna, at first we didn't know what would happen to her, but then when the doctor got here, we found out that that baby food we fed her yesterday for supper gave her food poisoning!"

Anna tilted her head. "Are you serious?" she asked.

Her parents nodded. "Yeah, but at least it wasn't as bad as it could've been." Anna sighed and turned to Ricky, shaking her head.

"Well that's good," she began. "hey, mum, is it okay if we go sledding?" Anna asked.

Sophia raised her head up from behind the paper. "Look out the window, baby." she said.

Anna and Ricky ran to the living room and looked out the picture window. Their jaws dropped. The blizzard had gotten so bad that they couldn't even see the house across the street.

"Whoa." Ricky breathed.

"Whoa," Anna agreed. "I guess we won't be going sledding, do you wanna go downstairs and find something else to do?"

Ricky shrugged. "Sure, that's cool." he followed Anna back through the house, through the kitchen, and down the stairs leading to the basement. It was freezing down there, so Anna grabbed an old sweatshirt of Jason's off the couch and pulled it on.

"Brrrr." she shivered, looking up at Ricky. He chuckled and rubbed his hands up and down her arms.

"You're really cold aren't you?" he asked, titling his chin and smirking at her.

Anna looked at him. "Yeah, it's like the freakin' arctic down here!" she complained.

Ricky let go of her and walked over and crouched beside the old woodstove, in the corner, that hadn't been used in years. "Do you guys use this anymore?" he asked. Anna walked over and stood beside him.

Anna scratched her chin. "Uhm, we haven't in a while." she said, leaning over to inspect it.

"Do you wanna clean it so it can be used?" Ricky asked, standing up.

"Are you serious?" Anna asked, raising both eyebrows in surprise.

"Yeah, I mean, it gives us something to do, since we're both so bored, and when we're done we could try and light a fire in it." he suggested. Anna stood there, looking thoughtfully at the stove. She shrugged.

"Sure, cool. I'll be right back." Anna dashed upstairs and grabbed two pairs of sweatpants from Jason's room, and an extra sweatshirt. She told her parents what was going on, and took a scrub brush, garbage bag, and dust pan from the kitchen and went back downstairs.

"What's that for?" Ricky asked, stepping forward and taking some stuff from her arms.

"Well if we're going to clean it we should have old clothes on so we don't get dirty." she explained, pulling on the sweatpants over her jeans. Ricky shrugged and followed suit, pulling the sweatshirt over his head and stepping into the sweatpants. Anna pulled her hair up into a loose ponytail and got down and opened the stove door. Right away this huge cloud of ashes hit her in the face.

Ricky burst out laughing when she turned around. Anna glared at him.

"It isn't that funny." she protested.

He shook his head. "Yes it is, you have ash on the tip of your nose. It's like Rudolph gone awry!" he howled with laughter.

Anna dove at him, wrestling him to the ground. "Nooo it's not!" she laughed so hard she cryed. Ricky flipped her around so she was pinned to the ground.

"Yes it is!" he exclaimed, tickling her.

Anna was howling in laughter as she writhed to escape. Her hair came out of the ponytail, making her laugh even harder, "Let me go!"

Ricky kept tickling her a while longer before finally letting her up. "That was fun." he laughed.

Anna dipped her hand into a tiny pile of ash that lay on the floor and gently hit him on the nose,"There. Now we're even!" she squealed.

Ricky shook his head with laughter, "Fine, but we better getting cleaning if we ever want to be warm."

Anna nodded seriously and they got to work. Almost an hour later they had scrubbed the stove top to bottom, cleaned out the ashes, and Jason had a gotten a fire going for them. Anna whipped off the sweatshirt and sweatpants, back in her normal clothes. Ricky did the same and they sat down on the couch. She leaned up against him and flicked the TV on. They sat there, just like that, for a little bit. Just as they were about to get up and go play with the Game Cube Brianna bounded down the stairs. "Ricky! Your mum just came to the door, you have a phone call back at home."

Ricky groaned and got up. Anna pouted. "I'll call you later, okay?" he promised. Anna nodded and walked him to the door.

"Bye!" she waved, almost falling from the door-frame into the snow.

"Bye!" he waved back, before disappearing into the next yard.

Anna watched until she was sure he was inside before shutting the door and going to take a shower. After her shower she went back into her room, toweled off, and pulled on the same jeans she had on earlier, with her new vintage 'Cookie-Monster' t-shirt. Tiredly, Anna walked over to her desk and sat down on the stool and pulled out the laptop. She logged on and searched her contacts list. Ricky wasn't on. Sighing, Anna logged off and waltzed downstairs into the kitchen. Brianna, Jason, and Mari were sitting around the table.

"Hey." she mumbled, blindly reaching into the cubboard and pulling out a blue plastic cup, she filled it with water and went to take a seat next to Jason.

"Hey 'bella, what's up. Where's Ricky?" he asked.

Anna turned to face him. "Not much, he went home, he had a phone call." she said simply.

Jason made the 'O' shape with his mouth and picked up his sandwich, slowly taking a bite. Anna rolled her eyes. Jason could be pretty dumb for someone who was in his first year of University.

The four of them sat there in silence, eating or drinking what they had in front of them. Their parents had gone out, leaving them to babysit Elizabeth. A faint cry was heard coming from upstairs. None of the supposed ''adults'' got up (Jason, Mari - 19, Brianna - 21), so Anna went to check on her. She padded down the carpeted hall to the nursery, and opened the door. "Hewwo wizzie! How's mwy fwavorite wittle gwirl ever!" Anna cooed as she picked her up and began to bounce the baby up and down on her hip.

Elizabeth let out a loud screech and began to wail. Anna was taken aback a bit, so she called for backup. "Someone come help me, she's being difficult!" she hollered out the door. Someone got up from the table, and Anna was surprised to see Mari appear in the doorway.

"Hey, Anna." she smiled warmly.

"Uh, hey. Could you go grab the diapers? I can't take a hand off of her or she wiggle out." Mari laughed and grabbed a pack of diapers, taking one out. Anna laid Elizabeth on the changing table, and began to change her. Mari handed her anything she needed, all while holding Elizabeth's little legs down, to prevent Anna getting kicked in the face. Once they finished the two girls attempted to dress the baby in a cute little sailor's dress. After that they put her into these cute little matching baby booties and Mari picked her up and walked down the stairs, Anna close on her heels.

"How'd it go?" Jason asked, looking up as they came back in.

"We survived, let's put it that way." Mari smiled, tucking a long lock of shiney black hair behind her ear.

Anna smiled at Mari. When Jason first started dating her Anna thought Mari was just another stupid flakey rich chick, but now she had changed her opinion. Slightly. Anna wasn't one to go easy on rich people very often. As she contemplated the situation Anna drifted to sleep, right at the kitchen table. No one bothered to wake her, they had all had very bad experiences from trying to wake her up. Let's put it this way; they still have the teeth mark scares on their hands and/or arms. So, when Ricky came to the door, no one even bothered to wake her up, they just let him in, and then sat and watched her sleep.

To Anna it felt like she had been asleep a few minutes, but in reality it had been about 2 hours. After slowly waking up she raised her head to see Brianna, Jason, Ricky, and Mari staring at her from around the table. "Whoa, whoa how long have I been out?" she stammered.

" 'Bout 2 hours or so." Jason yawned. Anna looked at Ricky.

"Hey!" she said, sitting up straight and running her fingers through her hair. Her siblings and Mari smirked at each other before getting up and leaving the table. Anna watchen them leave.

"Hey." he smiled back.

"What's up?" she asked.

"I have great news!" he exclaimed.

Anna raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"I have a friend from camp coming to visit me for a bit." he explained.

Anna smiled. "That's awesome! When's he coming?"

"Erm," Ricky began, awkwardly rubbing his neck. "Tomorrow."

Anna frowned. Ricky had asked her to go see a movie tomorrow. "Oh, okay, that's okay." she said, her voice un-sure.

Ricky sighed a sigh of relief. "Okay, cool. He's a cool guy, you'll like him."

Anna smiled weakly. "Awesome."

Ricky glanced at the clock. "Oh, damn. I gotta go. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay, sure. Bye." she nodded as he went out the back door.


	5. Chapter 5

**_  
Starting Over Disclaimer - I only own Anna, Elizabeth, Brianna, Jason, Anna's parents, Kalie, and Zigzag's mother._**

Chapter 5  


Anna awoke the next day at 6:30 in the morning. It was still dark, but lamp-posts lit the street outside her bedroom window, and she could see it was still snowing. Lightly. The snow from last night had left huge drifts between her and Ricky's house, as well as everyone else's. This sucked. She'd never get out to see him today! Anna frowned and rolled out of bed. She peeled off her shorts and camisole P.J. set and changed into jeans and a vintage yellow tee with an orange on it that had a bright green leaf. She shrugged at her reflection before brushing her hair and grabbing a thin slightly cropped white zip-up hoodie. She brushed her teeth before clomping down the stairs.

To her surprise Jason was already up, leaning over a bowl of cereal at the kitchen table. "Hey, Jase." she yawned.

Jason looked up and grunted what Anna made out to be a , "Hello."

She made her way to the fridge and grabbed a carton of milk, pouring hersef a glass before taking a seat at the table. "So, what are you planning to do today?" Jason asked suddenly.

Anna shrugged. "I au'no." she replied tiredly. "I should be sleeping right now. But I couldn't sleep."

Jason nodded understandingly. "Me too." he admitted.

Anna rolled her head around a few times before fixing her gaze on a spot of something putty-coloured on the linoleum ceiling. "How goes it with Mari?" she asked out of the blue.

Jason eyes her warily. "Alright...why?...Is something wrong wit you and Ricky?"

"No, no," Anna sighed. "Well, not really."

"Spill, Anna." Jason ordered.

Anna took a deep breath. "Well, today he has a friend coming to visit him. Today. From Camp Green Lake. You know, that detention center he was sent to?" Jason nodded.

"Yeah, and..."

"I guess- I guess I'm kind of worried that he'll ignore me for this friend. You know, or like, treat me differently. Rather it be way nicer or meanly."

Jason scratched his head. "Look babe, Ricky won't do that. Trust me. He won't. He'll treat you the same, and if he doesn't, I'll kick his sorry texas-accented ass."

Anna cocked her head to the side and smiled. "Thanks, Jase." she replied, patting him on the back before retreating to the basement to play 'Mario Party 7' on her Game Cube. Hours passed, at least 4 or 5, before anyone else came down to the basement.

"SHIIIIIT!" Anna screeched. She had gotten killed by a bomb when the noise from the opening door distracted her.

"Anna!" her father scolded. "What that language, baby!"

Anna whipped around. "Christ! Sorry, daddy. What's up?"

"Phone for you, dear." he responded, holding on the cordless phone. Anna took it and padded across the fake hard-wooded floor to a laz-y-boy armchair. Once she was settled she put the phone to her ear.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Hey baby girl. How's it going?"

"Oh, hey Ricky." she smiled.

"What's going on?" Ricky asked.

"Not much, I WAS playing 'Mario Party 7'." Anna quipped sarcastically.

"Oh, sorry Anna. Did we interrupt you?" he mocked her playfully.

"Shut up. Who's we?"

"Me, and Sq- Alan."

"Sq-Alan? Nice name..." Anna scoffed.

"Oh come on, Anna."

"Whaaaat?" she whined.

Ricky laughed on the other line. "We're on speaker phone, baby girl. Alan is here."

"Oh..hey Ricky's friend."

"Hey, Ricky's girl friend." came the other deep voice.

Anna could here Ricky punch the guy on the arm. "Shut up man!" he whispered harshly. "Anyways, Ann. Wanna come hang out with us?"

Anna looked up out her basement window. "Sorry, Ricky. I don't think I could get over there. Have you looked outside yet?"

Anna could here Ricky shaking his head. "Go look." she told him. He did and came back.

"What if we came to you?" he asked.

"Um, just a sec." Anna said before jumping up and going upstairs.

"Mum, can Ricky and his friend come over?" she asked.

Sophia, who had been in the kitchen feeding Elizabeth nodded. "Yes, sweetie. If they can get here."

Anna bolted downstairs and picked up the phone. "Yeah, sure! Come over. If you have an extra Game Cube controller bring that, we can play three-on-three."

"Okay. Will do, see ya later." Ricky said before clicking off.

Anna clicked off and went over to the couch and stretched out, nestling her head in her arms and promptly falling asleep on the couch. She was out for a good hour. When she finally came to she gave a cooing yawn and rolled over onto her back. She rubbed her eyes sleepily and fell off the couch. A few bodies were in the room too. She looked up and saw Jason, Ricky, and the boy who must've been Alan. She crawled over to Ricky and crawled into his lap. He looked at his friend and shrugged. "This is Anna." he said, running his hand through her hair. Anna groggily raised her head and sat up.

"Heyhowy'alldoin'?" she slurred tiredly.

Ricky bent down 'til he was face-to-face with her. "Anna? You okay?"

Anna nodded. "YeahI'vejust...been up since 5:30-6:30. I'm deathly tired. But I'm glad you guys are here." she crawled out of Ricky's lap and slid over the floor to the chair where Alan was sitting.

"Hi. I'm Anna." she smiled and shook his hand.

He cocked an eyebrow at her but smiled. "I'm Alan."

Anna slowly stood up, steadying herself with Alan's wrist. "I'm bored." she whined, teetering. Eventually she flopped onto the couch and gazed at the TV screen while attempting to braid Ricky's hair.

"Ann?" he asked.

"Mmhmm?" she asked absently.

"You're hurting me."

"Sorry." she replied, letting go of his hair and sitting up.

"It's okay." he replied. Anna slid down and sat next to him. He snaked an arm around her waist.

Jason coughed awkwardly. "Yeah...so...uhm...what does everyone want to do today?" he asked.

Anna shifted around a bit an thought. Suddenly a great idea came to her. "Well, since it's not still snowing and since there are lots of snow drifts and stuff...I WANNA GO PLAY IN THE SNOW WITH YOU GUYS!" she exclaimed, her eyes shining as if she was 6 years old again.

Ricky eyed her warily. "Why?" he asked.

Anna shrugged. "I donno, really. I just feel like doing something...welll, I'm not sure what the word is, but I really want to. Please?" she begged, making her eyes glaze over as she looked from Ricky to Jason.

After five minutes of arguing, Anna won. "Fine. Whatever, Anna." Jason sighed. His little sister could be so annoying when she wanted to get her way.

About an hour later they were all ready to go. Anna wore one of Jason's big black parkas. The fur-trimmed hood covered over half her face, so all you could see was her mouth, and a pair of black ski-pants were pulled over her jeans and she had on purple and black snow boots. Jason wore a red one in the same style, but it fit him perfectly, and navy blue ski-pants with his red and navy snow boots. Ricky wore an army green puffy parka, similar to Anna and Jason's, black ski/splash-pants, and navy blue snow boots he borrowed from Jason. Alan was wearing a navy-blue puffy jacket (not parka..think those marshmallow jackets), hunter green ski-pants, and a pair of Jason's old navy and hunter green snow boots. Everyone was wearing a pair of Jason's or Anna's dad's thick black mittens. They had many of the same kind. Once everyone was dressed Anna turned to evaluate the situation. Her eyes were sparkling like a child's, and her smile was wide, spreading across her face. "We all look so silly." she giggled, opening the door. Everyone tumbled out into the snow.

Jason trudged over to where the garage stood and took Anna's hand and helped her over. She was the only one small enough to squeeze down between the wall of snow and the garage door. She slipped inside and began to toss out old crazy carpets. After there were about 3 crazy carpets and a long wooden toboggan, she climbed back out, a huge grin STILL plastered across her delicate features. "Ready to go, Ann?" Jason asked, helping her back out. Anna nodded and grunted as she heaved herself up beside her brother, boyfriend, and his friend.

"Yes! Come on!" she cried, grabbing the toboggan and tripping down the mound of snow. She was out in the middle of the slushy, snowy street when the boys were still ambling down the mound. "COME ON! COME ON COME ON COME ON!" she screeched happily, jumping up and down.

Ricky smiled and shook his head. Anna was so hyper. He wondered where she got it, the rest of her family was quite calm, most of the time. "We're coming, Anna. We're coming." Anna giggled and walked onto the sidewalk.

When the boys finally reached Anna, Alan walked over to her. "Where are we going, anyway?" he asked.

Anna shrugged. "I don't know, do you guys want to go to the golf course or the park?" she asked, eyes gleaming.

"What has the best hills?" Ricky asked.

"Not sure,...the park does, I think. Doesn't it Jase?" Anna asked thoughtfully.

Jason nodded assuringly. "Yep. C'mon, Ann. I'll race ya!" he exclaimed. All four teenagers began racing towards the park.

And that's how they spent the rest of their winter break, sledding and hanging out in Anna's basement. A few days later Alan returned home and a few days after that Anna and Ricky started school again. Ricky was put in Anna's grade for the year of school he had missed. She was happy to have a friend again. The school year flew by quickly, and soon it was summer...

----June 27th, 2006----

"Oh come on, Ricky! A C is pretty good! I got a D in math!" Anna cried as she walked backwards, throwing her arms up, her report card in her right hand, as she and Ricky walked across the school lawn.

Ricky ran one hand through his shiney blond shag (he had it cut a slight bit and thinned). "Ahh, I know, Anna, I know. But I could've done better!"

Anna rolled her eyes. "Oh come off it, Ricky," she smiled. "I could've too, but you don't see me complaining. No. I'm just happy I passed-even if it was barely- because it's SUMMER BABY!" Anna squealed, breaking into a run. Ricky shoved his report card hastily into his back pocket and tore off after her. Anna let out a loud squeal as she tried to get away from him. Too late. He tackled her and they fell to the ground. He reached out and smoothed down her silky brown shoulder length hair with a smile. Ricky leaned over and kissed Anna. She kissed him back. When they broke apart she sat up on her elbows and looked at him. "We should get going home, mum will be worried." she told him with a sly smile.

Ricky nodded. "Yeah," he chuckled. "Let's go." he hopped up and grabbed Anna's hand, and, not letting go, helped her up too. Together they walked down the sidewalk. Trees with apple blossoms line on either side of it, making the air smell sweet. Anna reached up and tried to grab a tuft of blossoms, but pouted when she couldn't reach. Ricky noticed and broke it off for her, placing it behind her ear. Anna grinned and took his hand and pulled him along the sidewalk at a fast pace.

Later that day they were sitting on Anna's rickety back porch railing, eating Cherry Popsicles and watching Elizabeth roll around on a fuzzy pink blanket. Anna licked a drop of popsicle from her lips and turned to Ricky. "So, what are you doing this summer?" she asked.

Ricky shrugged. "Nothing. I'm staying 'round here for the entire three months, and you?"

Anna broke into a smile. "ME TOO! I mean, we are too." she giggled, kicking the board beneath her feet.

Ricky grinned. "Sweet."

Anna nodded. "I know, oh- Oh Lizzie! Don't-Ew...Lizzie, no!" she squealed, going to grab her sister who was walking around in a pile of dog crap from their other neighbour's dog.

Anna's tiny nose scrunched up. Elizabeth giggled. "Hehehehehe!" she cooed.

"Oh, Elizabeth." Anna sighed, dropping her popsicle and picking the baby up from under her arms. Ricky shoved his hands in his pockets and ambled over.

"What'd she d- ewww. That stinks!" he cried, covering his nose.

Anna frowned. "I know, and what sucks is the house is locked 'cause Jase is with Mari, Brianna is out with her friends, and mum and dad are still at work! We can't even get inside to give her a bath!"

Ricky thought for a moment. "Hmm..we could use the old tin tub in my basement and give her a bath in the front yard...and after we can put her in some of Kalie's old baby clothes...if you want, I mean."

Anna beamed up at him. "Yes! Good idea, let's go!"

They left Kalie to watch Elizabeth on the front lawn while together they dragged the tub up the steep stairs and out the door. Anna quickly stripped the baby down, and Kalie ran inside. Anna laughed and grabbed the hose. Ricky watched the baby while she turned the water on and filled the tub. After about 20 minutes they were done. Anna wrapped her sister in a towel and carried her up to Ricky's room while he went to find some old baby clothes. Minutes later he returned.

"Okay Ann. It's either this," he said, holding up a sleeveless pink and white stripped baby onesie with a solid pink skirt attached. "Or this," he finished, holding out a plain white eyelet onesie.

"Umm...the white one, please."

He tossed her the white one. Anna pulled a clean diaper from her rucksack she carried while watching Elizabeth, put it on, then slid the baby into the onesie. She giggled and Anna picked her up. "Ready to go?" Ricky asked, taking her free hand. Anna nodded and they headed outside.

"Where do you want to go?" she asked.

Ricky shrugged and nodded at the lush green lawn. "Wanna hang here?"

Anna smiled. "Yeah, yeah sure just a se- Oh! Mum and Dad are home, be right back!" she cried, dashing across the lawn, Elizabeth in hand. She gave the baby back to her mum before running back to Ricky. "Yeah, let's just lay on the grass."

They layed down on the grass.

"I'm so glad school's over." Anna sighed happily, picking a few blades of grass out and trying to tie them together but failing. Miserably.

Ricky smiled at her and laced their hands together. "Me too. I don't think I could take much more of that place."

Anna smiled. "It was better than last year." she admitted, her voice sad.

"Yeah, digging holes sucked major ass." he told her.

Anna giggled quietly. "Yeah, and I didn't get ridicu- you know what? Never mind."

"No, what was it?" Ricky asked, turning his head in the grass to look at her.

Anna sighed. "Remember how I told you when you first came home 'bout how I always got teased because 'my bodyguard'-that's what they called you behind our backs- wasn't there?"

He nodded with a serious look on his face. "Yeah.."

"It was worse than that. Way worse."

"Like how?"

Anna took a deep breath and nervously twirled a string of hair around her fingers with her free hand. "Well, they would ridicule me relentlessly because- well, that's not important- but, they'd do stuff like drop my books in the toilets and put food in my chair, you know, all those stupid pranks supposedly 'popular' people do to the supposed 'geeks' on TV shows? I got all of that. Every goddamn day. One time I was even riding my bike and one girl and a few guys just stuck their feet out. Since I was watching where I was going I didn't notice. I flew over the handle bars, got banged up, had to have stitches and all that. My jaw even almost broke. I was so happy when you came back. Not just for that to stop, but because you were my one and only friend." she drew in a sharp breath, trying not to cry from remembering the terrible year.

Ricky was just staring at her. He reached out and brushed away some hair that she was trying to blow back. "Shh. It's okay now. I just don't get what would make someone do something so terrible to someone like you." he said softly.

Anna sucked in another sharp breath. "I- it...it was...it was well, I don't remember. They moved away." she finished hastily.

Ricky raised an eyebrow. He didn't believe it for a minute. But one thing he DID know, was Anna knew how he'd react -beating the crap out of the person/people who did this to her- and she was too nice to hurt anyone. Even if they hurt her first. "Okay." he said.

Anna scrunched up her face. They hadn't moved away, they were only expelled. They went to the school down the street from Anna and Ricky's. She knew Ricky didn't believe her, but she didn't want to make a big deal out of it since, well, he's right. She's lying. Anna sighed and rolled her head back and forth a few times. She sat up and let go of Ricky's hand. She smoothed out the wrinkles in black Soffe cheerleading short shorts (an - I have a pair..they're sooo comfy) and rubbed her hands up and down her smooth, tanned legs. In the distance she heard the neighbourhood Ice-Cream truck. Her eyes lit up like a 5 year old's. She shot up, straightened out her bright red tank top and jumped around. "What're you doing?" Ricky asked, slowly rising from the ground. Anna turned around and grinned like an idiot.

"ICE CREAM TRUCK!" she screeched, digging into her ratty black converse low-tops for the toonie she put in there that morning.

"Still?" Ricky asked with a laugh, referencing to Anna's habit of storing money in her shoes.

Anna giggled and nodded. Just then the ice cream truck creaked it's way around the corner and Anna dragged Ricky over to it. "Hi, what can I get you?" the bored acne-ridden teen attendant asked.

Anna gazed at the menu. "Um, Hagen Daaz...cherry filled nut-coated vanilla ice-cream...on a stick." she told him. She handed him her money and he handed her the ice-cream.

Ricky ordered a vanilla ice-cream cone. They walked back to Anna's front porch. Brianna was standing on it, feeding Elizabeth her bottle. "Bwawana!" she squealed, flapping her chubby legs, trying to get down. Brianna groaned and set the little girl onto the soft rainbow pastel-coloured baby blanket that was at their feet. Bwawana was Elizabeth's way of saying 'Anna'. It was her first and only word so far. Anna smiled widely as she and Ricky advanced towards them.

"Hey kids, what're you guys doing tonight?" Brianna asked, picking Elizabeth up to stop her attempts to escape onto the lawn.

Anna shrugged and looked up and Ricky, who shrugged at Brianna. "Donno."

"Well, you should double-date to the movies with Tyler and I. We're going to go see that new movie with all the english accented kids in it."

Anna and Ricky both wrinkled their noses. Double-date with your sister? Double-date with your girlfriend's sister? Noooooo thanks.

"Uhm, no offence Bri...but, um...no. Sorry, we're...going to the park."

Brianna rolled her eyes. "Fine, whatever...just...take the baby with you."

"What the hell! It's Jason's turn to baby sit!" Anna complained sulkily.

Brianna nodded. "I know, but, unfortunately, he took off with Mari this morning. I think they were headed up to the camp."

"He's taking HER to OUR camp?" Anna pouted. She didn't like Mari much. At all. Actually, she could barely stand her nowadays.

Brianna smirked. "Sorry, babe." she said before turning to go inside. Anna gathered the baby blanket in her arms and she and Ricky followed.

"I just don't get it why they wou-" Anna's mum was saying into the phone when they entered the kitchen. "Oh, hey kids- Betsy I'll have to call you back." she said, clicking off.

"Hey, mum." Anna yawned as she and Ricky slumped down into two kitchen chairs.

"Hello, Anna. Hello, Ricky."

"Hey." Ricky replied.

Sophia took a seat on the chair opposite them. "So, you kids got any plans tonight?"

Anna and Ricky glanced at each other then they both shook their heads. "No..." Anna told her mum slowly.

Sophia ruffled her own thick black hair. "Well, would you mind walking over to that dry cleaners on Main Street to pick up my dry cleaning and then going to that diner-Mick's-across the street and picking us all up some dinner?"

Anna raised one of her dark eyebrows. "Why can't you or dad do it?" she asked.

Sophia wrung her hands out. "Oh, we would dear, but that thick headed son of mine took the car."

"Oh. Um, well...yeah, can Ricky stay for dinner too?"

Sophia nodded. "Sure. Ricky, sweetheart you're welcome to stay if you like."

"Thank you." he said.

"Okay, so we better get going." Anna chuckled, standing up and accepting money from her mum. She shoved it in her pocket and Ricky took her hand as they walked out the door.

"God, it's so far awaaaaay." Anna moaned.

"Oh come on, Ann. We walked all the way to Blockbuster-which is even further-back during christmas break!"

Anna and Ricky both smiled, remembering that night. "Yeah, I guess so. C'mon, let's go."

About an hour later the teens arrived at the dry cleaners. They left with Ricky holding the dry cleaning. Ricky and Anna then headed to the diner across the street and ordered a family sized greek pasta salad, some cold cut meat subs, and fried chicken to go. "Mmm. This smells SOOOOO good." Anna exclaimed, sniffing the box she was carrying under her arm. Ricky nodded in agreement.

"It sure does."

About half way home there was a playground they had to cross. They were almost across when a group of 5 or 6 kids appeared from behind the slide. They were all stoned. At first Anna didn't recognize them. She did soon enough, though, and her grip on Ricky's hand tightened considerably. He glanced down at his girlfriend. Anna had gone considerably pale.

"Well well well, looks like your bodyguard came back for ya, Anna-banana. Oh, and it looks like- oh my, you're together now! How cuuuute!" one skanky girl with yellow-blonde hair and chunky red and blue highlights scoffed as they got closer. Anna's face scrunched up.

"Shut up." she mumbled.

One of the guys stepped forward. "To bad you're back." he looked Ricky up and down, then he laughed. Ricky stepped in front of the guy. Ricky, who was 6'4 towered above the boys 5'5 frame. Anna tugged on his hand.

"C'mon, Rick. Forget them- let's go back to my house, mum'll be wondering where we are." she said softly, tugging her boyfriend away from her tormentors.

"Anna-" he began once they were far enough away. "Where those the people who-"

Anna started to walk faster. "Maybe. You know what-forget it. It doesn't matter anymore."

Ricky followed her quickly, glancing back at the group of kids staring after them menacingly.


End file.
